My girlfriend’s nephew, barely five, alternated between squeezing my hand and excitedly scooting ahead to the onsen, then skipping back to us. Her brother, grimacing but trying his best, explained to me which towel was for what and which faucet did what. Her father just nodded along politely, unable to understand any English. Then they all started stripping naked, without an ounce of awkwardness, with an air of normalcy, even. And taking a deep breath, I began doing the same, heart pounding and face bright red, hoping they’d like me enough for another invitation to their next hot spring trip.
Arvee Fantilagan was raised in the Philippines, lives in Japan, and can be found at sites.google.com/view/arveef. He hopes to write a better bio someday.